In the recent months, there have been reports of an increase in home burglaries, house-breakings, and larcenies of peoples' homes and possessions. Many of these incidents could have been prevented by an active crime prevention program and a little bit of common sense.....
After the great uniting of the American Society, people are begining to get laxed in their day to day routines, creating opportunities for the criminal elements of our society. Yes, 9-11 created a spark amounst us in the USA, but also created a spark for the criminals. We all are watching out for that terrorist person, (Mid-eastern-decent), supporters of the taliban. This is good, but all suspicious people in, around, or calling your neighborhood should be reported. NEIGHBORS, YOU MUST WATCH OUT FOR YOUR NEIGHBORS.***************
I can't stress this statement enough. Let's get off of the racial impurities, and get into real life. If I see something or someone who I don't know in my neighborhood, I'll at least write it down and report it to you if they are by your house. If you live in a high traffic area, you should note people, vehivles, and anything suspicious, like loitering around. Watch people. You should never get the itch however, to confront anyone. If they are out of place, and/or you feel a negative feeling about these persons, report it to the Police in your area. *(Note, while doing this reporting, try to give the best description of the party(s) as possible. What I mean by this is: report what you see. Don't call 911 and say that there is a white guy or black guy standing at the corner, by my car, watching the kids. This creates more stress for the Police who are trying to get the bad guys. The description that I've just gave, will describe well over half of the USA.
When reporting a suspicious person, try to keep in mind the facts.Report what your eyes see, your ears hear, your nose smells, not what you thought was the subject. Here's some helpful tips to be a good witness:
* Clothes; What was the subject wearing? (Hats, color, blue jeans, dockers, t-shirt, button up, pull overs ect.
*Color of skin; white, black, tan, ect.
*Color of hair/style of hair; Black hair, shoulder lenght, wavy.
*Dress; Clean, dirty, old, shorts, ripped, pressed.
*Height/Weight; For height, you can compare him to you standing up right, or to an object like a telephone pole with a sign on it. The Police can help you in determining the height if you can provide a reference point on an object. Weight, was the person skinny, fat, stocky, Bart Simspon the cartoon looking, ect. Imagine a person to compare the weight to.
More Detail; Eyebrows, nose lenght, width, earlobes attached to the neck or detached, scars, tattoos, mustache, beard, clean teeth, crooked teeth ect.
Now, back to home safety. You know what to report and expect from outside your home, so, let's get into you home. The first thing is physical security. Yes, the Summer Season is upon us and like most of us, we like to feel that somewhat of a cool breeze through our windows, our front and back doors. This is okay, only if you are observing these unsecure areas. Recently, my heart began to pump faster than usual when I went back to my home town and visited family. We were in the back yard, scanner balsting, radio blasting, us talking, fire-pit burning. The front door was left unsecured, noone was in the front of the house. This was an accident, robbery, housebreaking, burglary waiting to happen. The last few crimes just mentioned are terrible, but not as serious as someone with different intentions getting into the house, hiding in a closet, the basement or whereever, and then creeping down or up to the family and killing them, raping the women, and even the kids. This is sicking to me while I write this, and most of us don't want to hear it, but this is real, it happened all over the the world, it will continue to happen until we all become crime consious and secure ourselves without secluding ourselves from the world. How is this possible you may be asking right now. It is simple, but not full prove.My family when confronted by my concern said, the front door is locked. ???????? (I had to say how is that?) They did lock the front door, however, it wasn't secure, in fact is was easier for some unwanted person to gain entry without detection than it would have been if the doors were all closed and unlocked. They had the screen door locked, with a plastic screen gaurding the house from the front. Now, this is easy for the biggest of fools to slice a part out of the screen and unlock the door. This criminal just gained access to you life, to your house, to your belongings. When you get back inside, and discover that your TV, your sterio, your DVD player, your cash, your couch, your chairs and what ever you hold true to you is gone, feel lucky. They didn't harm you physically. Chances are though, you won't see your investments recovered. I'll get more into the recovery aspects of theft later. I'll give you a hint right now: MARK YOUR THINGS WITH A NOTICABLE NUMBER ENGRAVED ONTO YOUR THINGS. Theives will think twice about reselling these things for profit.
The most important thing is to become over protective of you, your family, your things. You don't need a gun, a knife or other weapons to secure your things. You just need to take into mind all of those news reports of people getting robbed. Ask yourself why it happened to them and how you can prevent it from happening to you. The answer is simple, keep an eye open. Don't get to relaxed around strangers, don't ever let anyone in your house who you don't know. If it is the gas man, the electric man, ect. They should have some form of company, city ID. Don't just trust this. If the gas man comes on Thursday for the last year or so, and today is Monday, contact the gas company prior to letting this person in. If he is the real employee, he/she wouldn't mind at all. If the person starts getting antcie, call the police right away. Don't be the movie hero and say that you just called the police and that you have a gun, or a knife, but just stall the person. If they attempt entry, know your escape route. Get out of the back door and notify the Police right away. *****************MORE TO COME LATER>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>...........
